Resilient chair support,especially for seats in motor vehicles



May 27, 1969 s. PERSSON 3,446,527

RESILIENT CHAIR SUPPORT, ESPECIALLY FOR SEATS IN MOTOR VEHICLES Filed April 27, 1967 US. Cl. 296-65 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a resilient chair support, especially for seats in vehicles, comprising a base plate secured to the body of the vehicle and a substantially vertically movable upper part which serves as the bottom of the seat and near its front end carries an upper pivot of a rod system which extends below said bottom and the lower pivot of which is located in or near the plane of said lower part, the rear end of said bottom being movable along guides extending upwardly from the lower part.

The object of the invention is to provide a very low chair or seat having effective resiliency and low friction.

In accordance with the invention this object is attained due to the fact that the lower pivot of the rod system is located at the intersection of the plane of the base plate with the plane of the guides and that a helical spring acting on a point on the bottom of the seat has its line of action directed such as to cause as low stresses as possible on the various bearing means of the chair.

This invention relates to a resilient chair support, especially for seats in vehicles, comprising a lower part secured to the body of the vehicle and a substantially vertically movable upper part which serves as the bottom of the seat and near its front end carries an upper pivot of a rod system which extends below said bottom and the lower pivot of which is located in or near the plane of said lower part, the rear end of said bottom being movable along guides extending upwardly from the lower part.

The object of the invention is to provide a very low chair or seat having effective resiliency and low friction.

In accordance with the invention this object is attained due to the fact that the lower pivot of the rod system is located at the intersection of the plane of the lower part with the plane of the guides and that a main spring device acting on a point on the bottom of the seat has its line of action directed such as to cause as low stresses as possible on the various bearing means of the chair.

Advantageously, the rear end of the bottom of the seat lies at a higher level than the front end. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention this is attained due to the fact that the bottom of the seat extends substantially horizontally from its front end to a place in the proximity of the upwardly directed guides and is bent upwardly from said place toward the guides.

The rod system may consist of two rods disposed one on either side of the bottom of the seat and secured to the upper pivot which is mounted for revolving in the front end of said bottom and parallel to the front edge thereof, said rods extending from the upper pivot to the lower pivot to which they are secured, said lower pivot being parallel to the upper pivot and mounted for revolving in the lower ends of the guides.

A rubber buffer may be provided between the lower portions of the rods and the lower part of the support, which butter upon actuation by the rods results in a progressive spring action in combination with the main spring device. There may also be provided spring de- United States Patent 3,446,527 Patented May 27, 1969 vices, preferably spiral springs, on the upper and/or lower pivot for counteracting revolving of the pivots during spring deflection.

An embodiment of a seat support according to the invention will now be described with reference to the annexed drawing in which FIG. 1 is a lateral elevation of the support and FIG. 2 is a rear view thereof.

Extending from the rear end of a base plate or lower part 1 of the support are two guides 2 the purpose of which will appear from the following description. The guides 2 are backwardly inclined and make a small angle with a plane perpendicular to the lower part 1. A vertically movable upper part 4 serving as the bottom of the seat rests on a helical spring 6 which extends upwardly from the lower part 1. The location of the spring 6 is such that its line of action is directed approximately to the centre of gravity of a person sitting on a cushion, not shown, placed on the upper part 4. The bottom 4 of the seat extends substantially horizontally rearwardly to a place in the proximity of the guides 2 and is bent upwardly from said place and carries at its top end two rollers 8 which are movable along the guides and carried by a revolving shaft 10 mounted in the upper part 4. The shape of the guides 2 may be such as exemplified in FIG. 2. From .the above description it will be evident that the rear end of the upper part 4 is movable up and down in the direction of the guides 2. A pivot 12 is mounted for revolving in the front end of the upper part 4. By means of two rods 14 this pivot is connected with a pivot 16 which is mounted for revolving in the lower ends of the guides 2. The members described are dimensioned and spaced such that a circular are having the rod 14 as a radius and along which the front end of the upper part is movable within the limits of the movement of the upper part is substantially parallel to the guides 2 and consequently, approximately vertical.

One end of each of the pivots 12 and 16 has a groove which receives the inner end of a spiral spring 18 and 20, respectively. As viewed in FIG. 1 both spiral springs are wound clockwise around the respective pivots. At their free ends the springs are bent as shown in FIG. 1. The tension of the spring 18 is adjustable by means of a device comprising a screw 24 which is screwed through a fixed projection 22 of the upper part 4 and the end of which bears on the end of the spring. The tension of the spring 20 is adjustable by a lever means comprising a bell crank 28 which is pivoted at 26 and one end of which can be moved to and fro by means of a knob 30 secured to a screw 32 with the result that the other end of the bell crank releases or increases its pressure on the end of the spring (FIG. 2). The mode of operation of the lever means is believed to be clearly apparent from FIG. 2 and need not be explained in detail. It will be obvious that the two springs 18 and 20 counteract revolving of the respective pivots in a counter-clockwise direction and thereby cooperating with the helical spring 6 for counteracting downward movement of the upper part 4. A rubber buffer 34 disposed between the rods 14 and the lower part 1 results in a progressive spring action and prevents breakdown.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the arrangement described and especially the location of the main spring 6 right below the driver will result in as low horizontal and vertical stresses as possible on the various bearing means.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described and illustrated the details of which can be modified within the scope of the appending claims.

What I claim is:

1. A resilient support for a seat in a vehicle, comprising a lower part secured to the body of the vehicle and a substantially vertically movable upper part, serving as the bottom of the seat, a rod system consisting of two rods disposed one on either side of the bottom of the seat, an upper pivot of said rod system being revolvably mounted at near the front end of said upper part, a lower pivot of said rod system being located adjacent the plane of said lower part, the rear end of said bottom being movable along guides extending upwardly from the lower part, the lower pivot of the rod system being removably mounted in the lower ends of the guides at the intersection of the plane of the lower part with the plane of the guides, a main spring device positioned approximately midway between the center and the front end of the bottom of the seat whereby to cause as low stresses as possible on the various bearing means of the seat; a rubber buflfer disposed between the lower portions of the rods and said lower part of the support, which bufier upon actuation by the rods results in a progressive spring action in combination with the main spring device; and spring devices provided on at least one of the upper and lower pivots and adapted to counteract revolution of the pivots during spring deflection.

2. A support as defined in claim 1, which further includes means rendering the tension of said spring device adjustable.

3. A support as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the rear end of the back of the seat lies at a higher level than the front ends of the seat bottom.

4. A support as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the bottom of the seat extends substantially horizontally from its front end to a place in the proximity of the upwardly directed guides and is bent upwardly from said place toward the guides.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,550,170 4/1951 Spiess et a1. 297308 3,139,304 6/1964 Lehner et al 297308 3,326,603 6/1967 Lehner 297-308 BENJAMIN HERSH, Primmy Examiner.

L. DANIEL MORRIS, IR., Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 297-308 

